President’s Standard to the 22nd Missile Vessel Squadron

President Ramnath Kovind  awarded the President’s Standard to the 22nd Missile Vessel Squadron, also known as the Killers Squadron of the Indian Navy, at an  ceremonial parade held at Naval Dockyard, Mumbai on 08 Dec 21.  A special day cover and a commemorative stamp produced by the postal department were released to mark the occasion. The ceremony was attended by Bhagat Singh Koshyari, Governor of Maharashtra, Admiral R Hari Kumar, PVSM, AVSM, VSM, ADC, Chief of the Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ajendra Bahadur Singh, AVSM, VSM, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Naval Command and several other civilian and military dignitaries. The 22nd Missile Vessel Squadron is based at Mumbai and comprises missile vessels Prabal, Pralaya, Nashak, Nishank, Vipul, Vibhuti, Vinash and Vidyut. The Killers Squadron traces its genesis to the 1971 War when Osa I class missile boats, newly inducted into the Indian Navy from the erstwhile USSR, participated in Operations Trident and Python that were decisive in enabling the Indian Navy dominate operations in the Arabian Sea. The attacks on Pakistan naval units and Karachi harbour during the two operations effectively nullified the Pakistan Navy’s war-waging potential and earned these missile vessels the sobriquet ‘Killers’.